The top 5 reasons to upgrade to SQL Server 2016 

2 min read

Upgrading your software can be daunting, we know. The fast pace of business makes it easy to tell yourself, “I’ll do it later when I have time.” We get it! But here are five key reasons to make time to upgrade to SQL Server 2016, which was named DBMS of the Year in 2016 by Read more

SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1 generally available 

2 min read

This post was authored by Tiffany Wissner, Senior Director of Data Platform Marketing Microsoft is pleased to announce the availability of SQL Server 2016 Service Pack 1 (SP1). With SQL Server 2016 SP1, we are making key innovations more accessible to developers and organizations across all SQL Server editions, so it will be easier than Read more

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Top 5 Announcements at PASS Summit 2016 

4 min read

This post is by Joseph Sirosh, Corporate Vice President of the Data Group at Microsoft. In June, we’ve announced the general availability of SQL Server 2016, the world’s fastest and most price-performant intelligence database for HTAP (Hybrid Transactional and Analytical Processing) with updateable, in-memory columnstores and advanced analytics through deep integration with R Services. As Read more

Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016: Leveraging Hyper-V large-scale VM performance for in-memory transaction processing 

<1 min read

This post was authored by Liang Yang, Principal Performance Engineer on the Hyper-V team and Jos de Bruijn, Senior Program Manager on the SQL Server team. With Windows Server 2016, Microsoft has significantly bumped up the Hyper-V Virtual Machine (VM) scale limit to embrace new scenarios such as running e-commerce large in-memory databases for Online Read more

SQL Server 2016 posts world record TPC-H 10 TB benchmark 

2 min read

SQL Server 2016 delivers unparalleled performance and security built-in for your most mission critical transactional systems and data warehouses, along with an integrated business intelligence and advanced analytics solution for building intelligent applications.  Blazing-fast performance is key to ensuring you can deliver a flawless transactional experience while at the same time support demanding real-time operational Read more

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Microsoft JDBC Driver 6.0 for SQL Server is now released! 

2 min read

This post was authored by Andrea Lam, Program Manager, SQL Server. We are pleased to announce the full release of the Microsoft JDBC Driver 6.0 for SQL Server! The updated driver provides robust data access to Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure SQL Database for Java-based applications. What’s new Always Encrypted You can now use Read more

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SQL PowerShell: July 2016 update 

4 min read

This post was authored by Ayo Olubeko, Program Manager, Data Developer Group. The July update for SSMS includes the first substantial improvement in SQL PowerShell in many years. We owe a lot of thanks for this effort to the great collaboration with our community. We have several new CMDLETs to share with you, but firstly, Read more

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Powering mission-critical performance with SQL Server 2016 

4 min read

Data has become the lifeblood of the enterprise. It’s the foundation for keen insight and effective decisions that lead to business growth. One of our primary design goals for SQL Server 2016 was to provide the performance, security, availability and business intelligence that are critical to helping companies manage their data and identify new opportunities. Read more

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WideWorldImporters: The new SQL Server sample database 

3 min read

This post was authored by Jos de Bruijn, Senior Program Manager, SQL Server. A release the magnitude of SQL Server 2016 deserves a new sample. AdventureWorks, which has been around since the SQL Server 2005 days, has had a good run, but it is time for an upgrade. Wide World Importers is the new sample Read more

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Get a head start on SQL Server 2016 with this how-to guide 

3 min read

For the past several months we’ve been talking about the advances in SQL Server 2016. Now, at last, the wait is over. SQL Server 2016 is now generally available and brings with it a feature set designed for the modern-day enterprise, in which data can be located in a variety of locations, both on-premises and Read more

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SQL Server 2016 is generally available today 

8 min read

This post was authored by Joseph Sirosh, Corporate Vice President, Data Group, Microsoft. Today we announced the general availability of SQL Server 2016, the world’s fastest and most price-performant database for HTAP (Hybrid Transactional and Analytical Processing) with updateable, in-memory columnstores and advanced analytics through deep integration with R Services. Software applications can now deploy Read more

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